Category: 2. Middle East

Israel’s plan for the “conquest” of Gaza has sparked renewed fears, but for many of the territory’s residents, the most immediate threat to their lives remains the spectre of famine amid a months-long Israeli blockade.

The plan to expand military operations, approved by Israel’s security cabinet overnight, includes holding territories in the besieged Gaza Strip and moving the population south “for their protection”, an Israeli official said.

But Gaza residents told AFP that they did not expect…

Demonstrators gathered outside the Israeli Embassy in London on Monday to protest Israel’s attacks on Syria and the occupation of the Golan Heights, Anadolu Agency reports.

Organized by the Syrian Solidarity Campaign, the protest drew a large crowd calling for an end to what they described as violations of Syrian sovereignty and international law.

The Syrian Solidarity Campaign stated that since the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has launched nearly 1,000 air…

The Israeli army demolished 152 Palestinian structures, including dozens of homes, in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem last month, Palestinian figures showed on Monday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The demolished buildings included 96 inhabited houses, 10 uninhabited houses, and 34 agricultural facilities, the official Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a report.

Moayad Shaaban, head of the commission, said Israeli authorities also issued 46…

The goal of Israel’s renewed onslaught is the “complete occupation of the Gaza Strip,” Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar said on Monday, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Such a move endangers those who remain in captivity,” Zohar, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, told the public broadcaster KAN. “But there is no choice left.”

The Israeli minister claimed that the ongoing military assault will force the Palestinian group Hamas…

The Israeli army on Monday released 10 more Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, who were detained during the Israeli genocidal war in the enclave, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Hamas-run Prisoners’ Media Office said the 10 freed Palestinians were transferred from the Sde Teiman Prison in southern Israel to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah.

The freed Palestinians are in “severe” health condition, the office said.

According…

Spain will contribute an additional €500,000 (over $560,000) to support UN investigations into human rights violations and possible war crimes committed in Gaza, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares announced Monday, Anadolu reports.

“With the aim of ending these violations of international law and with the desire to ensure accountability, I announce that we will support the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in increasing its investigative…

Israel’s Security Cabinet unanimously approved a plan early Monday to expand its ongoing military onslaught on the Gaza Strip and occupy territories inside the enclave, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the Cabinet approved “the operational plan” submitted by army chief Eyal Zamir to “defeat Hamas” and return Israeli captives held in Gaza.

According to the statement, the plan requires the army “to…

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday urged India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions during a visit to Islamabad, where he also sought to deepen political and economic ties with Pakistan amid growing regional instability.

Araghchi arrived in Islamabad on Sunday to a state welcome and met with his Pakistani counterpart, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the following day. According to the official Islamic Republic News Agency, the talks focused on strengthening political, economic and cultural…

Swedish Television announced on Sunday a humanitarian initiative to convert the late Pope Francis’s car—used during his 2014 visit to Bethlehem—into a mobile clinic for children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling his final wish.

The initiative is being carried out in coordination between Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, and Anton Safar from Jerusalem. The project had received Pope Francis’s personal approval before his passing. According to…